


Collecting Calls

by Rainwater_Apothecary



Category: 999: Nine Hours Nine Persons Nine Doors - Fandom, Zero Escape (Video Games)
Genre: Long-Distance Relationship, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-10
Updated: 2017-06-10
Packaged: 2018-11-12 13:35:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 751
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11162919
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rainwater_Apothecary/pseuds/Rainwater_Apothecary
Summary: It's been months since the events of 999 rocked five people's lives irreparably. Three of the players keep in touch, despite the distance, time, and...well, other barriers.





	Collecting Calls

**Author's Note:**

> This was written WAYYYYYYYY before vlr was announced, like I don't even know how long ago. Years and years probably. Just assume that my headcanon for these works are that Junpei doesn't speak English very well and add that to the cuteness factor that is my knee-jerk reaction to certain death situations......h aha.......heck.

"Yes, well, what did you expect from a college-level English course, Junpei?" He ran one hand through his long-since mangled locks as his friend allowed his words to run out from thirty-thousand miles away. Well, at least he’s speaking to me again.

"I don’t know, that it would have some English in it, maybe???" Junpei couldn’t freaking do this conversation anymore, ever since he had returned to Japan it had been hard enough to think straight through jet-lag and the rejuvenation of his full course-load without having the only son of his host family suddenly drop contact with him out of the blue. Come on, man, it’s not like I did anything particularly stupid…that I can remember.

His eyes had just sought out the ceiling with its familiar dips and drops when the man on the other end of the line cleared his throat in preparation to call his bluff. “Junpei. You haven’t really been listening to a word I’ve said these past five minutes, have you?" His pupils contracted like a prey animal caught in the sights of a ravenous tiger, sinews prepped to strike. Not that Junpei was thinking of sinews or anything, it just seemed apropos to point out how fucking scary the proverbial tiger is. “Junpei."

He shook his head and listened to the reverberations his shoulders made against the drywall of his apartment. Had it always been this small?

Of course it had, that’s why it was cheap enough for a college student to rent during the school year. What had the landlord called it? ‘Intimate’? What a load of bullshit.

"Um…yeah. Yeah, I’m listening now, Light, keep talking." There was a rustle on the other end of the line that evoked a similar motion in the Japanese man.The phone pressed into his neck in a light threat of asphyxiation as he cradled it with one shoulder in order to cross his arms. (He had had to do this whenever crossing Light Field on his home turf, so he had since found it to be a powerful weapon of positive self-efficacy in his arsenal.) The voice on the other end of the line continued in a tone Junpei knew well.

"I had been wasting my breath on indulging you with the knowledge that I have been heartily enjoying your SMS messages, when my sister is at home long enough to read them aloud to me. They’re most pleasant insights into the country of my birth and an illuminating revelation as to why I am currently enrolled in a university here." Junpei blanked. “That being said, I would really rather prefer it, for brevity’s sake you understand, if you were to simply phone over the distance between us that way we can do away with the middle-man. I love her dearly, but she plays with words and that really cannot be done when reading aloud messages of a more personal nature."

The college student on Junpei’s end of the line let out a groan and sank to the floor. He’s blind you idiot. No wonder he didn’t reply to any of your mails. He groaned again for good measure and covered his eyes with one hand. The reserved chuckles that filtered through the earpiece did nothing to assuage Junpei’s feeling of absolute stupidity at his error. He decided to switch tactics.

"So how’re you doing in that…what was it, Genuine Lyrical Bullshit or something or other…?" The laughter died out as the sentence translated itself to Light.

"I’m afraid to report that the longer I stay within said class, the lower my respect for any lyrical talent declines. At this rate I’ll be little better than the simpletons that write for Clover’s…well, ‘noise’ to put it in plain english."

Ah yes, here was where Junpei felt the most secure with Light:

"Yeah, college’s a bitch, ain’t it?" A delicate snort greeted his announcement.

"An unorthodox but accurate summation, I’m afraid." The Japanese man smiled and rested his cheek against the receiver as Light embellished on his academic-based sorrows.  
The floor made a faint scraping sound as he pulled in his legs and rested a hand on them, gaining what little comfort he could whilst still cradling the phone on one collarbone as the minutes wore on into the night. What was distance to the two friends who were two countries, two colleges, and an ocean apart? For now there was Germanic grammar, “punk anthropologists", and all the time in the collective world.


End file.
